Dairy Products.

wayland · Dairy Products.

Do any of you guys make cheese/butter etc? I have been reading up on it, and may give it a go.

Moonwaves

I was all set to try making butter and then last week went to the market in the People's Park in Dun Laoghaire where there's a guy who sells homemade butter. I'm going to try that first and see if I notice enough of a difference to make the effort myself. It's hard enough to get double cream though, even in supermarkets there's usually only a tiny small bottle of Avonmore or else the Elmlea stuff which seems to have too many ingredients to just be cream.

Jack

Gidday

Just wish I had real milk and cream and I would be doing it too.

chook

I make a simple soft cheese from goats milk and occasionally of the neighbours cows milk. Also bought a little wooden cheese press to try and make hard cheese but it always went bad on me so I only use the press now to make a Feta type (soaked in brine).

Recipe:
3-5 l milk, heat up to c. 72C for 10 secs to pasteurize (I use a digital meat thermometer with alarm), then cool down again to about 38C. For each liter of milk add 2 tablespoons buttermilk and whisk well. For each liter of milk then add 2 drops of rennet and stir in very gently. Put pot into a warm place for about 12 hrs (c.20-25C, such as bottom flap of range, I do this overnight) and don't move it anymore at this stage. Then cut into half inch cubes with a knife (still in the pot) and let curds and whey separate for another couple hours. Ladel into a cheesecloth and drain for 12 hours or so.
It makes a lovely soft cheese that can be eaten sweet or savoury, i.e. spread on bread with jam, mixed with fruit and maple syrup (yum!) for dessert, used for cheesecake, or mixed with garlic and herbs as a breadspread or to go with spuds etc. Pressed and soaked in brine for a few hours it makes a lovely Feta type cheese.
The whey is great for pigs and chickens. I use it for moistening the chickens morning mash or give it to them to drink. They love it. Actually, mixed 50-50 with orange juice it is not bad to drink either (for me, not the chickens Smile

So there's no waste at all.
Well worth it.

chook

wayland

Good posts guys. I think hard cheese will be for the future but I have been reading up on it. Butter should be no problem and those nice little glass churns can still be brought. In regard to getting the double cream why not get channel island milk and skim it. Perhaps there is a herd near by where we may get some straight from the cow. Pasturising only needs a big sauspan and thermometer, and a skimmer. Go for it guys Wink

brianbread

Hey to all Folks, This is my first post but iv been reading for a couple of weeks and find the site entertaining and inspiring(living in a 1 bedroomed apartment in Dublin). Anyway, just thought id mention that anyone considering making cheese, hard or soft, should check out silke croppes (of corleggy cheese) 1 day cheese course on her farm in county cavan. Iv had the pleasure of both selling Silkes cheese for her in raheny and temple bar markets in Dublin and catering the cheese schools while finishing my Msc . It runs over a few dates in the summer and is absolutely brilliant, Silke makes some of the best cheese iv tasted (thats how I ended up working with her) and is a truly lovely woman who knows her stuff. This isnt a shameless "marketing" post, but more like a genuine and enthusiastic review. Check it out!

David

Loads of surplus goats milk at the moment, and fancy having a go at cheesemaking...where can I get some Rennet?

David

chook

See if you can find some Pro in your area, there is someone near Limerick who makes goats and sheep hard cheese but I can't remember the name of the farm. I'm sure they'd be happy to give you a wee bit. Count 2 drops per liter of milk you want to work with - so you really only need a tiny amount, a few ml.

My girls are very obliging as well, gettin' 2 litres a day (I know they are not champion milkers, but it's more than enough). Just made a batch of Feta (2) and 1 soft cheese covered with herbs, seasalt and pepper. Yum. Reminds me, haven't had lunch yet, rumble rumble.
... runs towards kitchen ....

Bye,
chook

David

Hi Chook, thanks for the advice...there is a guy in Cratloe who makes sheeps cheese, so he'd be a good bet I think.

So far I've been pasteurising and freezing surplus...I have about 25 litres frozen at the moment...goats milk seems to feeze well (naturally homogenised?)

What do you reckon about using the frozen stuff for cheese? Think I read an article in a smallholding magazine that suggested this...might try a small batch first.

The herby cheese sounds lovely!

D

PS still haven't got around to dispatching those kid goats...keep finding excuses to avoid that job!

chook

Yep, Cratloe sounds right, must be the ones I was thinking of.
I haven't tried freezing but seem to recall reading about that or hearing that as well. Worth a shot. The fat globules in goats' milk are indeed smaller and more well dispersed in the milk than in cows' milk - one of the reasons why it is easier to digest for folks who have trouble in that department.
Let us know what lovely creations you come up with. It's great fun and very satisfying to have all that soft cheese at ones disposal. Of late I had, apart from eating it simply spread on bread with toms or cuces - spuds with herb soft cheese, feta in salad, fried and battered feta, and oodles of cheesecake. In the past I've also made deserts with jars of preserved plums, maple syrup, and a hint of cinnamon simply blended into a pound of the cheese. Stupid Munster Wholefoods phased out the plums though...

None of these are particularly good for ones waistline though Laughing

chook

David

Hi Chook
all that sounds lovely...i think i saw a recipe of yours for cheese on this forum...i'll give it a go. Do you make any hard cheese? Be interesting from the storage factor. I'd love to have a few cheeses ripening for the winter.

waistline?

We've been turning pork bellies into rillets/rillons this weekend...so if you want to talk "fat" i'm your man!!

D

chook

I tried to make hard cheese but failed, it kept going bad on me. However, the dad of a friend of mine has been making goat's hard cheese for years; it's really lovely. He makes it pretty much the same way as myself as far as I know, uses the same moulds to press etc. and then just ripens it in his cottage in a fly-proof cupboard.
Doesn't work for me unfortunately. I get first a red mould and then a nasty black one. What I have done though is to buy a small nice brie and put one of my pressed cheese in closed food container (tupperware or similar) and scrape off some of the white mould from the brie with a toothpick which is then inserted repeatedly into the cheese. That way the mould gets right in and if left for a few weeks in the fridge the mould grows right through and starts showing at the surface; it gives a very different taste and texture.

Have fun.
chook

brianbread

Apparently there are different moulds in different atmospheres, so a cheese matured in one location could turn out totally different in another. Your mould problem is more likely to do with where its being matured rather than how your making it Id say.

Artisan cheese makers are often particular about letting people into there maturing room in case an undesireble mould gets into the atmosphere and changes their product. Cheese is easily as interesting as wine for reasons like these I reckon, something a bit magical about it all, and each producers cheese is distinctly theirs! The following is a rough method for maturing hard cheese, im sure there are others but this is one that I know works!

When your cheese is pressed take it out and cover generously in sea-salt (This starts the formation of a rind), after a couple of hours brush off the excess salt and wrap loosely in cheese cloth (the cheese doesnt need to be covered as such but does need to be protected from direct sunlight, mice, rats, curiosity etc). Ideally place on a wooden board (for antiseptic qualities) and keep in a cool (ideal maturation temp is 12c but its grand up as far as 18c (just about)), dry place with a stable temp, an insulated shed is ideal at this time of year but not if it has strong smelling stuff in it like paint/ parafin/ white spirits etc.....

For the 1st week the cheese should be turned every day to ensure the moisture/ bacteria etc dont just sink to the bottom. After a few days brush off the remaining salt and keep turning! After a week turn it maybe every three days and after a week of that every week and so forth! Apparently some people wet a cloth with white wine and rub the cheese every time its turned and this creates some kind of super-special rind, but Iv never tried it, booze is for exclusively for bellies with my kind of cash flow!

A kilo of cheese should be fairly special after three months so if the will power is their I reckon thats an achievable target. The cheese will probably mature (beneficially) for six to eight months but this depends on you method, milk, size of cheese etc. Your cheese could mature for consideranly longer or less time.

Thick black/white/ grey moulds on the rind are not a problem, If you dont like the look of them they can be literally washed off with a nail brush once a sturdy rind develops. anything green or red is a bit dodgy I reckon though. Well thats the depth and breadth of my knowledge on maturing hard cheese pretty much, im sure a lot of it you will already know but hopefully something will come in handy. Do you use pasturised or unpasturised milk out of interest??

Anyway, Slan go foil!

brianbread

Oh yeah! forgot to mention you should never wrap or keep your cheese in plastic as it sweats! a covered tupperware container wont really do it any favours but just leaving the brie beside your cheese in normal maturing conditions should be enough to encourage that particular mould if thats what you are trying to achieve!

Moonwaves

[quote]a covered tupperware container wont really do it any favours [/quote]

Unless of course you're using one of these:
http://www.tupperware.de/images/a139_300.jpg

Very Happy

MrsL

Have a look here:

http://creativeliving.10.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=304

sorry it's a link to my own forum, but a bit of a fankle to re-type it all out. Hoipe it helps, will check back, and happy to answer questions.

I've been cheesemaking for about 15 years now - soft and hard, cow and goat milk. I make butter too; up until a few months ago in the Kenwood, but I gave that away in my bid to become non-electric, and now have a hand butter churn.

Definitely worthwhile, and woth persevering with.

wayland

We are going to try a bit of dairy stuff once our last six goats are gone. Have been offered some equipment from a fellow goat keeper which is cool. Very Happy

So I may well be asking you guys for a bit of help. Need some females first of course.
Cheers.